WD / Census Number tags

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

An explanation for the indifference by certain sections of government departments until and just after ‘Lend-Lease’ is that the Treasury held the purse-strings in relation to dollar expenditure, U.S. or Canadian, through the Exchange Requirements Committee that had been established in September 1939 to regulate the outflow of British currency reserves. In addition on 2 November 1939, as hoped for by the Foreign Office, the U.S. Senate approved the amendment of the Neutrality Acts to allow the U.S. to supply arms and equipment to the Allies on a cash-and-carry basis. The Ministry of Supply was beholden to the E.R.C. for approval of any foreign acquisitions including for forces overseas and that included both Canadian and U.S. [‘North American’] purchases.

It does seem that factions in the MofS and ERC had their own opinions: the MofS and probably other purchasing departments had their own agenda such as deciding that they wanted such-and-such equipment from say the USA. However the ERC held the hand-bag with the dollars in it, and there was often a very close scrutiny with some heated arguments about "Is this purchase with Dollars really ncessary?". Then again there were arguments about US supply versus Canadian...Canadians take our Pounds but the Americans can supply under Defence Aid then Lend-Lease. I shall have to dig out my ERC minutes and start a new thread in the future.